Thetownend.com

The Trust are organising an open Fans' Forum (ie open to all Town fans) for next Wednesday evening, 7:30 pm, at the Old Railway Museum (the one near the Gluepot, don't go to Steam cos there won't be anyone there). The purpose of the forum is for fans to discuss the current situation at the club, present what information we have (ie weeding out the facts from the hype) and for us all, as fans, to decide what, if anything, we want to do about the situation.

Please come along if you can - this is an opportunity to find out what's been going on (and is still) and to have your say on what we as fans should do about it. The more people that attend, the better chance we have of speaking as a collective voice, and of coming to the right decision!

Full details (including map) at:
http://www.truststfc.co.uk/news_item.php?id=783

i may go along. its a good idea too

Supposed to be working till 8 but may get out early as this is important, good shout gents will more than likely cya there

Spread the word fella's

thanks Paul, see you there.

Ill be there.

(is there a bar?)

 The Cricketers is handy enough..

:D very witty Reginald

Can I get a Video Link?

 To the Cricketers?  :shock:

Il be there.

Il be there.

Bollocks.  :stupid:

Video Link - Straight to DVD - I'll make a mint selling voyeur shit to the arse-bandit community down here..

In answer to Yeovil's earlier question, I don't think it's licensed I'm afraid. Tho that will be an incentive to get the meeting done quicker so we can all go down the pub!

No, it's not licenced and no bring-your-owns allowed in either.

However, there are numerous pubs nearby to visit beforehand and afterwards.

I'll be in the Glue Pot personally.

Out of interest Paul how many people have signed up for Trust membership in the past couple of days?

out of interest,not critisizing(spell?.),why is it there and not in a pub?

Because the Former Railway Museum is the only venue in the town centre that can hold 400 people.

More power to the Mechanics' Institution Preservation Trust I say. If they had possession of the Mechanics' then it would be held there. A potential (and past) total community venue for all things Swindon.

 :thumbs:

Ill be there,inspite of the fact that its my birthday,can't decide if its really sad that i'm going or that it just shows my absolute dedication to the cause.  :?

I will buy you a beer in celebration, Larwood. And for dedication.

It would be good to meet you.

Off the top of my head about 15 in a little over 24 hours between news breaking on Thurs and last night (that's online - don't know about via post).

A bit of both but you'll be very welcome. Don't let Alan buy you a pint tho - thinks he's Leslie Phillips  :D

am I a member of the trust? I joined something and I pay £10 a year - Is that the trust? sorry to sound thick!

 :evil:

Are you off the phone yet, Davis?

Yes you are - and could you send us an updated email addy - the one we have for you bounces back. PM me

I'm in the Forest of Dean until 8. I'll come down for the pub section of the evening though. I'll wait for all you cool cats in the Gluey...

Gay :D

Erm, what's gay? :?

I think he was referring to the Gluepot

I still don't know for the life of me why loads of folk think it's a gay pub!!

Mistaking it with the Cricketers?

(ive ordered that ticket)

ITs going to be packed ... im going .. my mates are going .. everyone i spoke to is going that watches swindon - is there space?

I was under the impression that it used to be a gay pub?

 :mrgreen:

What, one for me too? Excellent...

aye

It can hold 200 seated or 400 standing (500 at a push). I think we'll go for 100 seats and leave the rest open.

I've even asked the question if we can hang some speakers outside if necessary and that is an option...

Fingers crossed that the turnout really is that large. It will be quite a change from the 20 or so at recent Trust Fans Meetings.

Chirst, well, I'm not speaking then if I'm going to get the Mussolini treatment ....  :D

Will Sky Sports News be running a video link of Wednesday evenings event?

Perhaps not sky. but has anyone invited local radio/media?
The more coverage this event gets, the better imo. Has this already been adressed?

Cheers,

Millom

 :soapy tit wank:
Think i'll forgo the pint,you can buy me an Archers and lemonade instead :wink: Just remembered i'm a member of the Trust too,will that mean i'll get in cause it sounds like its going to be busy?

Are non Trust members able to go?

I would think so, just wondering if i'll get special treatment if i flash my card :wink:

Open to all.

Living quite a way away as I do, I'm not going to be able to make it.

Will someone please post the key points on here afterwards, preferably with phone pics of a bundle involving the said 400 people crushing young Bart. :wink:

We'll aim to get a summary on the Trust site asap. Although we are hoping to avoid any happy-slapping related incidents!

If I go I'll make notes. Then leave them in the gluepot afterwards. Then make some stuff up when I get home drunk.

 The FB account of the meeting should be done in stick man cartoon style.

has anyone found out how many people can fit in yet ???

400 normal sized people.

Im fat though so 398 unless your really skinny?

i'm fatter than yeovil, so make it 395 normal people

Don't forget to leave space for beer

In that case, Yeovil's going on his own  :wink:

Tell him the venue's change to somewhere else  :mrgreen:

How many angels can dance on the point of a needle?

I thought only Azeljebru the mini angel could do that?

 Not according to Thomas Aquinas.   Is that a relative of Irnbru?

Think it's a second cousin or something. Wasn't Aquinas a crazy monk? I'm going to the pub.

So who's going? anybody want to buy me a pint before it starts? Sonic said he would but now he's not going becauase he's gay.

I will ben....

Ace, I love you dv. You don't really have to buy me a pint. I'm just scared of going on my own.

So where do you want to meet? Walkabout? Gluepot? 6.30?

gluepot for 7ish?

sounds ace. I'll see you there.

i finished work 15 mins ago.

fuckin gutted i didnt make this :x

I'm still at work, not that I'd have been able to made it anyway.

Can someone please fire up the minutes when they get back.  Cheers...

What you doing at woek Dazza?!?!?!  Weathers shit tonight mate, take it easy on the way home

Overtime!   :D

Just got back on a company taxi so it's not to bad.

Mad!!  Get a 9-5 job!!! :)

Had a bloody nightmare of a trip at the weekend getting to the Notts County game.  Even nearly missed the damn boat!

Couldn't make it, too far unofrtunately - but theres a brief report on MoS...nothing of note, just that only 75 odd made it.

im sure Pauld will update us all  :D

just got back from work, any word on the meeting tonight? who went?

Summary from John70 on myonly.....

Shame about the attendance

cheers

I just got back, pretty interesting stuff.

Come on Ben share the love it's getting close to bed time.

A fair bit was said and to be honest I'm not gonna type it out now, the minutes(sp?) should be up tomorrow I think. It was an interesting night and it's a shame more didn't turn up. Although I'd say there was more than 75, lot's of people were sitting down the sides instead of standing behind the chairs so it looked like less.

I'll just get something wrong if I try summarising it now so I'd prefer not to. Yeovil will probably get back soon, I'm sure he can give a good account.

I think that the Dazza/John70 post pretty much sums it up. Was pretty dissapointed by the attendance too, but there you go.

Anywho, not much to add really. The description of the chain of events were as pretty much stated by the board statement in a way:

- Power comes on board and invests £1m
- Budget meeting takes place between Sir Seaton and James Wills, Devlin and Power (and maybe Sandy G, can't remeber). Agreed any overbudget should be paid for by Power
-  Full board + Mike Diamandis meeting 3 days before season start fails to ratify the spending already committed to. Disagreement insues.
- Plane crash happens.
- Bill Power withdraws and wants his money back. The club lawyers  say a 33% share purchase HAS gone through, Powers lawyers say it hasn't, it is a loan and must be repaid.

Another point raised was that the relationship between the club and Mark Devlin is strained and it would be a suprise to see it continue despite public statements to the contrary. Apparently the club want devlin to account for some of the 'unauthorised overspend', yet in fact of the £700K quoted, they are talking about a figure circa 5% of that total.

The session ended on a what to do next vote. It was voted to unanimously (I think) to allow Michael and the trust to explore forming a consortium in the hope of raising £2-£3m (estimate) to take over running of the club. The consortium would be of any 3rd party willing to invest rather than a fan based group, though the latter is not ruled out.

Please correct as fit.

oh, and my feet were on points west.

I will say that the trust seem to have got suppliers for the pitchforks and torches for the protest after the game on saturday. They're still waiting for empty barrels for fires though.

Cheers Batch & Ben.   :beers:

Couple of questions if you wouldn't mind chaps...

Had anyone from the respective groups and supporters been in touch with Bill Power or his business partner and were there any differing views, share issue aside from their perspective?

Also interested to know if there’s confirmation that his withdrawal was based solely on medical grounds as reported and would he be potentially involved in or working with any future consortium?

I am typng up the minutes now guys

i will get them over to Mr Davis in the wee hours for approval, so all being well they should be posted sometime tomorrow.

Cheers

Nice one Fred!   8)

My pleasure

Nobody has been in touch with Bill Power and from my understanding there is unlikely to be a statement from that side until legal issues surrounding the shares/loan situation has been sorted out.

I think there's hope that BP might be persuaded to gett involved in a consortium organised by the turst/fans however there's no evidence to say that he would and so it's nothing more than hope.

Think that sums it up pretty well, I'm sure someone will correct me if I've missed or got something wrong.

Just like to add that Fred is ace, as is everybody else I met tonight. Think I'm going to bed now. I'm a sleepy ben.

There'll be a proper write-up once Fred's done the minutes (cheers for volunteering to do that Fred, top man!), but in essence, some brief bits:

1) We reckon there was over 100 - as others have said, looked like less cos of people sat down the sides, but the Beeb guy who's a lot more practised at counting numbers at meetings reckoned in the region of 120-odd. So I'd say 100+ is comfortable
2) In terms of the clarification of what went on, I hope we presented a coherent explanation of what we believe happened in the events surrounding BP's departure. Essentially, 90% of the major factual points are undisputed and are largely as per the club statement on Monday. The key difference lies in the "there is no rift" element - there is and was a serious disagreement between the two parties (Mark D and Bill Power/Mike Diamandis and Sandy Gray) which we believe amounted to a breakdown in the working relationship between them. And that that, as much as any injury (which is not to be discounted - Bill P is, as we understand it, still in a pretty bad way, albeit not incapacitated), is a key element in the withdrawal of Bill P and his partner from the club.
3) One of the major points of the meeting was then to establish how we moved forward to do something positive to secure the future of the football club, not to sit around complaining about it. To this end, it was noted that the Board had said they would welcome any serious offers of investment, and the meeting resolved to mandate Mike Wilks and the Trust to actively work to seek out such investors and establish a consortium which would be in a position to take the major share in the club. It was repeatedly emphasised that this was not an attack on the Wills family, for whom I think pretty much everyone expressed nothing but respect, and in fact may represent a viable alternative for them actually getting some of the millions they've ploughed into the club back. One of the aims of such a consortium would be to replace the current non-football management of the club, who no longer commanded the confidence of fans at the meeting. However that would not preclude the Wills family retaining a shareholding within the club which may also be a vehicle for them to recoup some of their investment via (e.g.) a ground redevelopment and income streams opened up by such a redevelopment. Which is pretty much the boat they are in now, in terms of hopes of repayment.
4) Absolute total 100% confidence was expressed in the playing side management of the team (ie Dennis and Gus) and that all Town fans fervently hope they will stay and lead us to promotion and onwards. However, in light of Dennis' obvious annoyance at Bob Holt's comments applying pressure to him, I think most people felt the best way we could express this was by attending the games and getting behind the team 100% rather than attempting (e.g.) to get in touch directly.
5) No direct contact has been made with Bill P, although we have communicated our wish to speak with them. It's unlikely Bill P and his partner will want to communicate with anyone, be they fans, press etc until they have a clearer picture of the legal issues surrounding the shareholding/loan issue, but we will seek to establish contact as early as possible
6) The aim of that contact would be twofold - to establish whether there is any prospect of them re-engaging with the football club if the current non-football management were no longer a factor, and to express fans' very keen desire for them to do so.
7) There was overwhelming support for Mark D to return to the club and resume his role as Chief Exec and for that position to be clarified asap

All the substantive points as to what we should do were voted on, and carried overwhelmingly (as in, with usually 2-3 votes against/abstentions). I'm not going to attempt to remember the exact wording now - that will be in the minutes Fred's doing

A huge thank you to everyone who came out and to the Mechanics' Institute lot for letting us have the meeting there.

And now, I'm off to bed, I'm knackered.

Cheers paul

And subsequently up at god knows what hour this morning to be on Beeb Swindon at twenty past seven for an excellent interview about last night's events.

 :thumbs:

Don't overdo it, Davis.

Well done Paul and the other Trust members for sorting it out.It was a very interesting evening,it confirmed a lot of things for me.It was also good to hear some positive stuff as well from Mike Wilks as regards a consortium for the club,tbh i think a problem for myself was the question of where we could possibly go if Diamandis and i presume the Wills family[as they seem so protective of Diamandis  :-))( ] leave us,as least there does seem to be a way forward.

All the voting was ace,i felt like i should be calling everyone comrade :wink:

I hope the Adver got some of that.

As has been said before, turnout probably should have been better. But with the board basically denying everything, and threatening lawyers are waiting in every statement, its so difficult to get things out in the public domain.

Like I said we really need some tough reporting and some tough questions asked. WDP would be more likely to do that, but I dont think anyone at the club is allowed to talk to them anymore (after a bust up). A simmilar fate could befall the Adver if they try and do some more quizzical reporting, and they wont risk it.

At the moment the casual fan doesnt have a clue what the fuss is about. Hence the low turnout.

Where were you sat then, Larwood?

Damn - I missed buying you a drink in the Glue Pot... :(

The minutes are now with Paul for approval and should be posted on the Trust site sometime this morning

Yes very informative indeed I think the turnout could have been better but these things are never that well attended and thats the most I have seen at anything so its all good.Lots of people say they are going but when it comes down to it they cant be arsed (which is fair enough)

On a side note
 
A thoughtfull looking Yeovil is on BBc news :D

Paul Davis's picture in todays Adver he looks like he has Kidney failure hes the same colour as Homer Simpson

You looked quite pallid as well :wink:

Adver report now online at:

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/swindontownfc/display.var.942128.0.noconfidence_vote_for_board.php

where do sit on the whole sorry saga after the meeting Yeovil?

ps Sorry I couldn't make it last night, I've used up all my Night Out Passes ovger the past 2 weeks and had a pre arranged family gathering (my relative's last night in the Uk so couldn't really get him to push it back a night!).

Was Bart there last night and did anyone meet him ?

fred, it was a school night he wouldnt be allowed :)

Id still like to here from Power to be honest but because of the legal issues it seems we wont here from him anytime soon.I believe there is a rift between him and Diamandos no matter what the board are saying and I no longer think his ill health is the sole reason for him leaving .

What ever way you look at it the board have made a pigs ear of everything and need to go.Some points made last night about turnover leave me eager to see some accounts (not that id know what I was looking at :D )Id like to know why were going to lose 1m quid this year and where the money thats come in has dissappeared to.Lots of things dont add up at all.

Did I make the telly aswell or did they cut me off?

Haven't posted on here in ages, so hello. One thing I can't get my head around that perhaps somone can answer.

The club states it needs gates of 10,000 to break even, when a couple of years ago the stated break even figure was 4500.

Whats happened since?

Gates of 10,000 would produce gate receipts of around 3.5-4 million pounds a year. How the hell can we need that much to break even?

no one knows....and without an recent accounts....its hard to tell....it was suggested we as fans try to get someone external in to check these accounts I think

Yes indeed

That was one of the conditions the consortium would expect to be delivered once the investment has been secured.

I would imagine that a body of independant forensic accountants would be employed in order to substantiate the clubs financial affairs for the previous 5 yrs

I've been out the country most of the last 7 months but have watched the last 2 weeks unfold on my return.  Last nights meeting alarmed but by no means surprised me, as the typically slick business operation that is STFC once again lurches from shambles to shambles.  It was just nice to actually hear something approaching 'truth' and as opposed to the usuall bull with someone actually proposing a suggestion for the future of the club. Intially I feared the plane crash was appalling timing but since I've been home it appeared to have been more of a convenient excuse to hide behind as things unravel once more.

Minutes of the meeting should be on the Trust site shortly - apologies for the delay in getting them out, and a massive thanks to Fred for his hard work in turning round so quickly an excellent and comprehensive account of the meeting.

YAY

Im ace me

 :beers:

Minutes now online at:

http://www.truststfc.co.uk/meeting_27_09_2006.php

That's a reet rivetin' read!

good to here what the fans think of all this. looking for a new consortium has to be the way forward i think. good ideas have come out of this meeting by the sounds of it

Honestly mate, I just dont think those accounts will ever come out. If we are talking about a non hostile takeover, the first thing the old board would say is no investigation of accounts into the last 5 years of the club.

Id love to see it. Because I seriously think some people would then pay for what has happened to STFC and the way the club has been run.

Course if the board ever does hand over Bill Powers shares (which they wont). He can call for an investigation, which would be ace. I rekon they will say 1.2 million back to BP is worth keeping everything under wraps, and the STFC fan will foot the bill for that.

That was exactly my point last night !

If the shares issue is legally confirmed then BP, as a major shareholder can legitimately call for the investigation

Was that you at the front in the green T shirt?

Excellent point you made there.

Glad that some of the things that put a different shade on the "truth" are now out in public, all though sad at the same time.

That was me fella !!!

 8)

 :soapy tit wank:
I was hiding behind the papier mache figure of Brunel 8)

What do people think the chances are that Bill Power could get involved with the fans and mount a takeover bid for the club?

In the trust meeting it mentioned that Power was offered the chance to take over the club and was considering this before the plane crash happened, so if it was not for the crash he may have decided to mount a takeover.

Obviously as said on the notes from last night Bill Power knows what the fans think and also the trust are going to do an open letter to Power to try and get him to re-engage with the club again.

I think it would be great if we could presuade Power to try and buy the club and get rid of the useless board except for Devlin of course.

Obviously we need to try and get an investor asap if Power turns down the opportunity then we need to try and find someone else asap because the sooner those idiots are out of this club the better.

yeah i think it is possible. but for me it would depend on how true the reasons he pulled out are. if it is indeed because of ill health they he won't come back but if not then i reckon he may well be tempted if SSW and co decide to sell up

The intentions of both Mike Wilks and TRUSTSTFC are to my belief to engage Bill in dialogue to see if this is indeed viable.

However until the shares v loan issue is legally sorted out it may be a case to sit on our hands until a moment approaches that Bill is open to communication.

I am sure both Paul and Mike are examining all possibilities at the moment

Well as it said in the trust minutes and i quote "PD said that the fact that the man charged with securing inward investment in the club had not spoken to the club’s first major external investor in 5 years, not even to pass on his best wishes, in itself spoke volumes", Looks like Diamandis and Power did not see eye to eye.

I seriously believe that Power was forced out of the club because the Wills Family would back Diamandis time and time again and they would back him over Power as well.

Another quote that was interesting was "The following Wednesday there was a meeting between the board of the club plus Mike Diamandis on the one hand; and Bill Power’s wife Terry and business partner Phil Emmel on the other. Bill Power had specifically requested that Mike Diamandis not attend, again further evidence of a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between the two, but he did so apparently at the insistence of the Wills family.

That more or less proves that Power and Diamandis did not get on, Power did not want him at that meeting but on the insistance of the Wills family Diamandis turned up which would have probably annoyed Power even more.

I think it is Diamandis's fault and i do reckon that Power was forced out the the thing about ill-health is just a cover up so people don't find out the truth but i think we know the truth really.

I would love to see Power come back, it's what we all want.

The only person from the board to visit them in hospital was Wee Willie, and that was at the insistence of the injured parties themselves

I think that clearly states the condition of the relationship

hmm could be interesting to see what happens in the next few months then

I think we just all need to realise that even if things do go a bit quiet and details are not plastered over internet forums that behind the scenes we will move heaven and earth to try and make this a viable proposition.

Good interview on Swindon Radio this morning Paul, sounds like interesting times ahead.

I heard the bit at 7.30 ish, but didn't hear any of the later goings on.  Was there much interest from the listeners about getting involved (as the presenter asked)

That would be an absolute dream scenario - picture it now, Diamandis, Gray et al trudging out (with a bob or two in their pockets I suppose) and driving off (hopefully straight into a very minor prang on the Magic roundabout for added pythonesque comedy value)...

Sky pulls up and starts filming the press conference with the new chairman of STFC Bill Power, Chief Exec Mark D, a trust rep or two, sat at a table smiling away with Dennis and Gus, and a future for our football club.

Reading that gave me fucking goose pimples

NICE !!!!!

Cheers Jan. They made me go in to do it, so I couldn't do it over the phone in my dressing gown like normal (mental shudders from the listening population).


Erm, I don't really know. I caught the next 5 mins or so when driving home and then after that was trying to get the kids ready for school/nursery and me ready for work :oops:. Heard some bits in snatches, tho, and there seemed to be a pretty positive reaction from the bits I heard in snatches every 10 mins or so but couldn't really say - there could have been enraged citizens ringing to demand my immediate execution by the truckload in the meantime! Although someone might have told me by now if they had!

Regarding getting some investment/getting a consortium together why don't the  trust approach Honda? there would be no harm at all in trying, it was rumoured that they took an interest years ago but the board rejected it, apparently honda wanted two members on the board plus they want us to play in green instead of red & white.

Obviously contacting Bill Power and getting his views on whether he wants to form a consortium is the first option, i'm just thinking of other options incase Power is not interested, i would even write to Honda about it myself because these board members here now have to go and we need to get some decent people with money into this club.

Maybe we should get Nationwide to get involved or something? I'm just trying to think of other ideas.

The Honda thing was only a rumour and I doubt they'd get involved. Sponsorship maybe but not owning a club.

Nationwide won't either, it wouldn't be good for a company that currently sponsors the Conference, and previously the Football League, to go investing in a club.

But as dwba says, there's no harm in trying. We'll be pursuing every possible angle, and keep the ideas coming, they're all very welcome.

We are currently in the early early stages of putting together a dedicated sales and marketing team under the combined leadership of both Mike and the Trust.

The clear remit will be to source and negotiate possible external investors into the consortium.

Yes, I agree with the many points raised and obviously Bill P would be the natural choice to come back on board so to speak, but as previously mentioned the legal wranglings going on presently precludes any sort of formal communication channels being opened.

But rest assured, every opportunity will be investigated to make this happen and we can never have enough ideas thrown into the pot, so please keep them coming.

an idea is an idea so why not?

Id say Morrissey said it best 'so please, please, please let me get what I want, this time'.  :cry:

I couldnt agree more Rich !

Like i said i'd even be willing to write to honda myself  :soapy tit wank:  we have have the clbu's best interests at heart, i would approach every company in swindon because we need to save our football club and us fans need to do as much as possible to help the rust get the backers that they need to get the money needed raised so we can get this club running properly, this club has not been run properly for years, it's time things changed.

could even write an open letter SBC  :| or maybe not........

I'm going to join the trust shortly when i have the cash available, the more people that join the better, would be nice to get 4,000-5,000 people join the trust, i'm sure us fans on here can all join up and encourage as many fans as people to do the same?

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I must say that all the rumours and doom and gloom of the past couple of weeks have really taken their toll.

I sense a real mood of determined optimism which is fantastic.

Nice joke rich, SBC can  :arsekisser:  :mrgreen:

i thought that might be the case  :mrgreen:

Its important we get behind Wise and the lads ...

I wouldn't write them off in terms of doing all they can to help the club.

There has been a fairly strong wind of change blowing through the council chamber in the last six months. You might have seen some serious councillor intervention/persuasion in the Blunsdon stadium situation regarding the speedway recently, which came as some surprise to me.

Chris Van Roon (a Stratton councillor and STFC fan) was at the forum last night, publicly pledging that he would personally do all he can to help with the initiative, along with doing his best to present the case to the other councillors. He is also on the Planning Committee, albeit that because is a supporter wouldn't be able to vote on any redevelopment plans because he has an interest. Good man.

As Mike Wilks said last night - whatever form this new STFC body takes, it has to be a partner with the community and Swindon Borough Council. I would endorse that. Give the council a chance this time around - I would suggest the club's issues in the past with the council have been with "a previous regime" - on both sides. We might just find a rather more open door with a change of STFC ownership as well.

I reckon that maybe and this is only a maybe that SBC don't like dealing with members on the current board, i'm not saying that is true in anyway but you never know, like talktalk said things might change with SBC when we are under different ownership.

I have been angry with the way SBC have dealt with us in the past but i guess they deserve one more chance with us, my opinion on the matter is though that if SBC do not allow us to redevelop the county ground or do not provide an alternative site for us then we should stop dealing with them, there's only so far we can go with them, they need to be more supportive of swindon town f.c and help us out alittle bit more.

Us fans should really push SBC to help us get our ground redeveloped, we need to get together as fans and show them how much we want it.

If the council cut down on their wage bill and put the money saved in to STFC that would be a massive help.

I read in the adver a little while ago how there top bosses are earning ridiculous amounts of money when there work doesnt merit it, they proposed that cutting down on salaries could save them huge amounts of money which i feel would be more than adequate to help Swindon.

However, I dont think they would invest in the club when the board is full of people looking to get there money back rather than take the club forward. Perhaps a change of board and they might fancy a new relationship with the club...?
 
Not completely relevant but just my view on things  :D  8)  :wink:

Agree about a change of board. Which is another reason for all of us to desire it - because it would oil the wheels with the council.

But as far as council officer/executive salaries go, you get what you pay for. It's no different to commercial businesses in Tony Blair's Brave New Britain. If you subject the public sector to the same criteria and pressures as companies, what do you expect?

And as for cutting the wage bill in SBC, there's a long way to go in that one. However, with a conservative administration with Nick "Hatchet" Martin as Member for Finance then expect a few headless corpses anytime soon.

Yeah, a bit off topic.

One point we're missing here is that com[any's have obligations to shareholders, employees and their pension funds blah blah....and simply won't be interested in a lower-league football club, or a Premiership one for that matter.

What we must aim for is group of benefactors or a single person with an interest in football - they don't grow on trees sadly, they just tend to turn up once in a blue moon.....by the name of Bill power....and then get rubbed up the wrong way by a anonymous Greek like everyone else.

I'll never forgive Diamandis for that, ever.

all SBC have done in the past is turn down, stupid, ridiculous illegal proposals that dont make sense....and wouldnt even pass as Geography GCSE course work....

They havent done it because, they dislike the club. They've done it because the proposals have been shit.

They are all for redevelopment as long as it benefits the whole Swindon community, is logical and is legal  :roll:

I would be careful with that one, DV.

There's an element of senior councillors - note not officers being after personal gain in the past (so sue me then, you fuckers if you think it would stand up in court!)

That didn't prevent them going for the promotion of stupid, ridiculous and illegal proposals then...

I think your third paragraph might just be about to come true though.

Lets face it, at the current time STFC doesnt publish accounts and is run by a bunch of pretty shady people. What if per say, the council did grant a favourable permission and then at some point things did came out of the club about STFC financial dealings under Dunwoody. They would have made some people very rich who perhaps were less than cosure. This would be extremely high profile (being connected to the football club) and that could tar those councillors.

I can understand them not wanting to work with the current board. Or Terry Brady. Or Danny Donnegan. They were all dodgy.

Id say give SBC one last chance, with a new board. (Then give up!).

You coming to the match on Saturday, Spencer?

PM me?

I agree with you spencer, give SBC one more chance and then forget it because if they dont help us out this time then they never will, although i dont know what we would do after that, maybe the club will move out of swindon i don't know, but i hope things work out with SBC this time, we shall wait and see what happens.

It would be nice to get a consortium to get together with the trust and take over by christmas but i think that is very unlikely to happen, hopefully it will happen by the end of the season though, it would be great if we could get promoted this season and have a decent board in place for next season.

I just hope that Bill Power or someone else comes in to take over the club as soon as possible, it would be a total nightmare for us if no-one came forward.

I wonder who the trust will approach? obviously they are going to try and see what the situation is with Power first but i wonder who they will approach if he turns them down?

I do think however that SBC may have a better relationship with the trust rather than the current board members, they probably look at Mr.Diamandis and say we aint dealing with him  :mrgreen:

We initially need to formulate a business strategy in order to take to potential investors to demonstrate some form of organic and if possible expidential growth plans.

We also need to demonstrate to the investors the impact of new money coming into the club with have on the general community of the Town (predominantly national conglomorates love to be seen to be contributing to the local community etc)

This as I said needs to be developed into a slick business proposal presentation which of course would not happen over night and will develop over the next month

I think I've fallen in love with Fred Elliot.  8)

Can I ask who's drawing up these proposals and what kind of experience they have?

MBA at Hull University's business school

27 yrs experience in sales/marketing and National Service delivery strategies

That ok ?

I wasn't patronising or anything, was just interested to know really.

I think this consortium idea will really take off and I can see it being very successful.

Good luck to those involved  :beers:

A hell of a lot more better qualified people than the 100 Yard Breast Stroke Certificate board we currently have

Why thank you

If we are going to do this and do it sucessfully we need to demonstrate that we are slicker, more professional,supportive to the needs of the community and also the money men to stand any chance at all of persuading potential targets to release the type of investments we need to support the club through the life span of the business plan

Anything would be better than our current board, even I'd remember to pay the VAT bill.

Its ok Sam

it was not taken as patronising my friend.................. anything but !

I have stated throughout the day that the more people that are on board with this and contribute to a massive think tank the more sucessful we would be

 Fuck me I thought National Service had been abolished in 1963.....the very year we last won 6 in a row at the start of a season.

  But I'm all for bringing it back, so all power to you Fred.

  Instil a bit of discipline into some of the tax dodgers on here. :old:

Personally, I think the best thing to do first would be to get the press on our side.

If the whole 'project' is thrown into the public domain via the press then more people are likely to sit up and take notice. This way you may also find people may approach the consortium, rather than them having to approach people themselves.

I could not agree more

The more people that know about the plans = the more support = the more ideas = the more potential target investors.

Remember ................ it is easier to get 8 targets to invest 0.3 mill than it is to get 2 targets to invest 1.2 mill

With regards to the media frontage I feel that both Paul and Mike are the perfect people to deliver the message through the local media.

Horses for courses and the like

I fucking love this idea!

Just wish it would all happen tomorrow, however I do appreciate these things will take time.

Good things will come to those who wait...

Its in our own hands Sam.................... but it needs to be controlled

I will post an open message to the forum in a minute